When Grace Walks In

Stacey Thacker

Description

How Can Grace Help Me Today?We know God's grace is absolutely necessary for our livesbut once we've encountered Jesus and accepted His path to salvation, it's hard to know what grace should look like shining in and through us. In this welcoming, wise study of Ephesians, Stacey Thacker will show you how...knowing where you belong can diminish insecurity and build confidenceknowing what you have can wipe out fear and produce peaceknowing whom you love can crush uncertainty and help you endureYou are not alone in facing spiritual battles and hardships, but in them you can know Jesus has provided for your ultimate victory with His grace. Come and see what God is offering you today!* * *The Girlfriends' Guide to the Bible series offers fresh, friendly, and faith-renewing wisdom on specific books of the Bibleperfect for individuals and women's groups alike.

Sujets

• Philosophie et théologie
• New Testament

Informations

• Publié par: Harvest House Publishers
• Date de parution: 04 septembre 2018
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9780736970112
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 1 Mo

Extrait

HARVEST HOUSE PUBLISHERS
EUGENE, OREGON
Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are from The ESV Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version ), copyright 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Verses marked THE VOICE are taken from The Voice . Copyright 2008 by Ecclesia Bible Society. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Verses marked MSG are taken from THE MESSAGE. Copyright by Eugene H. Peterson 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc.
Verses marked CEB are taken from The Common English Bible, Copyright 2011 by Common English Bible.
Verses marked NIV are taken from the New International Version (NIV), Holy Bible, New International Version , NIV Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
Verses marked CSB are taken from The Christian Standard Bible. Copyright 2017 by Holman Bible Publishers. Used by permission. Christian Standard Bible , and CSB are federally registered trademarks of Holman Bible Publishers, all rights reserved.
Verses marked KJV are taken from the King James Version, public domain.
Cover by Connie Gabbert Design Illustration
Cover photos Komlev/Shutterstock
Published in association with Books Such Management, 52 Mission Circle, Suite 122, PMB 170, Santa Rosa, CA 95409-5370, www.booksandsuch.com .
When Grace Walks In
Copyright 2018 Stacey Thacker
Published by Harvest House Publishers
Eugene, Oregon 97408
www.harvesthousepublishers.com
ISBN 978-0-7369-7010-5 (pbk)
ISBN 978-0-7369-7011-2 (eBook)
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Thacker, Stacey, 1971- author.
Title: When grace walks in / Stacey Thacker.
Description: Eugene, Oregon: Harvest House Publishers, 2018.
Identifiers: LCCN 2018000560 (print) | LCCN 2018016523 (ebook) | ISBN 9780736970112 (ebook) | ISBN 9780736970105 (pbk.)
Subjects: LCSH: Bible. Ephesians-Criticism, interpretation, etc. | Grace (Theology) | Christian women-Religious life.
Classification: LCC BS2695.52 (ebook) | LCC BS2695.52 .T43 2018 (print) | DDC 227/.506-dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2018000560
All rights reserved. No part of this electronic publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means-electronic, mechanical, digital, photocopy, recording, or any other-without the prior written permission of the publisher. The authorized purchaser has been granted a nontransferable, nonexclusive, and noncommercial right to access and view this electronic publication, and purchaser agrees to do so only in accordance with the terms of use under which it was purchased or transmitted. Participation in or encouragement of piracy of copyrighted materials in violation of author s and publisher s rights is strictly prohibited.
Dedication
For Emma, Abigail,
Caroline, and Alison.
You are so loved.
Contents
Dedication
Introduction
How to Use This Book
1. Worth
2. Grace-Made
3. Belong
4. Bow the Knee
5. Walk Worthy
6. In the Trenches
7. Three Ways Not to Lose Your First Love
Start a Girlfriend Group
The Word
LIFE Bible Study Method at a Glance
Notes
Acknowledgments
About the Author
Also by Stacey Thacker
About the Publisher
Introduction
(Please Don t Miss This)
Intense.
That s the word I would have chosen to describe the previous nine months of my life. Every square inch of that time had been filled with intensity. I was spread too thin. I had responsibilities as a wife and mother. My writing was in high gear. On top of that, my daughter s health was fragile. Burdened and busy, I was surviving, but just barely.
Then an opportunity to attend a Christian women s conference in Nashville with friends presented itself. Many of the speakers serving at the event were women I knew and loved to follow through their online ministries and books. But I was sure that, with life so crazy, I couldn t go. Cautiously, I discussed the potential weekend away with my husband. He said, You know, I think we can make it work, and even more, I think you should go. You need this.
I nearly broke down in tears at his encouragement. I was downright ecstatic with anticipation a few weeks later when I walked off the plane in Nashville. God had pulled this off in the most amazing way, and I was ready to see what he had in store for me.
My friend Erin had organized our trip down to every iconic food stop we needed to enjoy while in town. Her first choice was a place called Hattie B s that served Nashville hot chicken. Sometime after I downed my mildly extremely hot portion and just after we took a group selfie in front of the establishment s sign, I felt myself beginning to relax. (It s entirely possible the hot chicken was also having its full effect.) Something loosened in my spirit, and I let go of the first layer of stress I had so tightly wound around my heart. I exhaled slowly, and simultaneously my phone beeped with a message from home.
My daughter had the flu.
I received several subsequent messages with details, and I understood this flu was likely to duplicate itself among my other family members, rapidly and relentlessly. Suddenly my weekend away felt extravagant. My family needed me in this crisis moment, and I was hundreds of miles away, not positioned to be of any help to them for several days.
My sweet friends gathered and prayed over the situation, and I called my husband, who by then also wasn t feeling well. Later that night, as I lay on the pull-out couch in my hotel room, I wondered why God would allow my family to be sick while I was in another state. My heart felt heavy with guilt over the unexpected turn of events.
The next morning my guilt mixed with a hint of bitterness. I needed this weekend away with friends, and now my heart was divided. I wasn t even sure I d be able to absorb any of the workshop messages that morning, but I went anyway. Sipping on my giant cup of coffee, I slid into a seat for a session with Bible teacher Kelly Minter. I remember looking at her as she casually talked to several women before the session began. She had no idea what I was experiencing as I sat there swimming in emotions.
I thought, This had better be good. I really hope she knows what she s talking about. I need to hear something that s going to make a real difference in my life. I don t know if that was a prayer; I think it was more of a conversation with myself inside my head. Jesus, of course, was privy to my almost prayer. He knew my thoughts before I owned up to them. And he was not a bit surprised or shocked by the intensity of my discouragement.
I pulled out my conference notebook and started taking notes as Kelly began to share from her heart. My pen stopped cold when she turned to the Bible story about Mary and Martha in the book of Luke. You see, I get a little bit worked up about this pair of sisters. As she started reading the account of Jesus being welcomed into their home, the hairs on the back of my neck rose. I knew what was coming. Once again God would use this story to call out my inner Martha and tell me he had his eyes on me and my skewed view: feeling responsible for all the things and all the people.
Martha and I have quite a bit in common. She is my people. We have a mutual understanding about how the world works and about how the world largely depends on us. I figured Jesus was going to draw my focus to that part of the story. Now I wasn t only bitter; I was annoyed.
As Kelly read through the passage, though, the Lord revealed a fresh truth my heart could not have needed more. Only it wasn t really about Martha in the kitchen, all worked up. Well, in part it was. But mostly my breath caught at what Jesus said to Martha about Mary.
Martha, Martha, you are worried and distracted by many things. One thing is necessary. Mary has chosen the better part. It won t be taken away from her (Luke 10:41-42 CEB , emphasis mine).
In that moment the room disappeared, and as lovely as she was, I wasn t sitting and listening to Kelly Minter. Grace walked in, and I was sitting at the feet of Jesus. He was putting his hands on my shoulders and speaking directly to my soul: Stacey, you are distracted by so many things. And all those things are going to pass away. Your family is going to get better. You are not home because I have set you apart this weekend to be here with me. And as you sit at my feet and listen to my Word, I will pour something into your heart that can t be taken away. Not ever.
Tears pooled in my eyes at the sweetness of the Lord s gentle tending to my weary heart. He knew everything I had been carrying. And he absolutely knew my family was going to be okay. He also knew I needed the weekend because of what I had been going through for months and months. He could look down the road and know this time at his feet would be a deposit in my soul for the future, when my world would tilt and spin off its axis and my life would forever be changed. His Word that weekend prepared me for future, hidden things. And to think I almost missed it.
You probably picked up this book for at least one of several reasons. Maybe you ve read a couple of my other books, or you really like the title or the pretty cover. Perhaps you picked it up in desperation, wanting to see if there was anything between the covers that would leap off the page. Maybe you said in your own heart something like I said at the conference: I hope this girl knows what she s talking about, because who wants to read a boring book that ends up wasting my time? It s totally okay if you re leaning more in that direction, because clearly you re my people too.
May I talk to you girlfriend to girlfriend right now? If we were sitting together at Panera, I would buy you dessert and your favorite drink, and then I